


Who's the Boss?

by susanowa (panickyintheuk)



Series: Iron Out The Kinks [2]
Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: BDSM mention, Identity Porn, M/M, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-26 01:46:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7555357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panickyintheuk/pseuds/susanowa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve's boss drops by. They've never actually met face to face before. I wonder who it could possibly be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who's the Boss?

**Author's Note:**

> For bingo square Y2, 'secrets and lies'.
> 
> Speaking of lies, remember when I said this was less of a tease than the previous part? Eh...

There was a knock on the door. Steve startled and quickly flipped over his notepad to hide the doodle he’d been working on. He then realized that was a ridiculous thing to do, as there was absolutely nothing incriminating or even embarrassing about his doodle, and arguably doodling counted as part of his job, but flipping it back again would just be more wasted energy.

“Come in!” he called, tapping at his spacebar a few times to dispel the screensaver.

The face that poked around the door was a familiar one, but not because it belonged to anyone he’d ever actually spoken to before. He knew it from the sign in the lobby, and the occasional billboard and press conference. He saw it in the hallway once, but he got nervous and hurried past before eye contact could be made. It was the upsettingly handsome face of Mr Stark, SR’s CEO, and it did not belong here. This wasn’t R&D, where -- he was reliably informed by his friend Bruce -- Mr Stark spent as much time as he could.

“Uh, hi,” Mr Stark said, looking wrong-footed. Probably because he’d wandered into the wrong department by accident and was wondering where all the gizmos where. “Steve Rogers?” Well, there went that theory.

“Yes, sir,” said Steve.

“Oh! Good. I just wanted to thank you personally for your work on the latest brochure.”

Steve gathered together every ounce of articulacy and charm in his body. “Um,” he said intelligently, and then, “thank you, sir.” He could feel himself going red, starting at his chest and working upwards. He didn’t have long before it spread to his face.

“Well, I won’t take up any more of your time,” said Mr Stark. Thank God.

“No,” said Steve, and then scrambled for something more appropriate to say. “I really appreciate it -- you taking the time to come down here, I mean,” he managed.

“Hey,” said Mr Stark with that smile, the roguish smile from the end of the press conferences, “I like to think I can recognize good work when I see it. I’ll let you get back to it.” And he was gone.

Steve’s head fell forward onto his desk, which was a cool surface, at least. Maybe Mr Stark hadn’t noticed his blush. Right -- some chance of that. Still, Steve comforted himself, he had seemed a little off-balance himself, at first.

So, he knew it was pathetic to have a crush on your company's CEO, but he'd been _handling_ it. He hadn't expected the guy to come to his office! Did he just make a habit of going around thanking people for their work?

Actually, it was possible that he did. Bruce said he'd become a lot more hands-on lately (that was the exact phrase he'd used. Steve had blushed then, too), and Steve hadn't been working here all that long. Still, it wasn't his fault he hadn't seen it coming. At least you couldn't get fired for being awkward. He was pretty sure.

* * *

 

_Fuck_ , Tony thought as he walked away from Rogers' office. Had he been recognized? He didn't see how, but Rogers' reaction had definitely been flustered. He wasn't like that during their sessions, and he spent half of those naked. Then again, if his taste in doms was anything to go by, he liked men, and Tony wasn't _too_ hard on the eyes. Well, you didn't make People Magazine's Most Beautiful list seven years running if you were a total wall-eyed freak.

False modesty aside, though, there was something else that bothered Tony -- 'Nomad' had booked three sessions in the last six weeks or so. Tony had thought he must be raking in the big bucks, but here he was in SR's modest little graphic design department. Tony wasn't stingy with his employees' wages or anything, but still, Pepper's prices were pretty steep. Rogers had to be stretching his paychecks an awful lot.

Of course, that was his own business, but it still made Tony feel a little uneasy. He hoped he wasn't going to enable the bankruptcy of some starving artist. But it wasn't as though he could give Rogers a raise -- it would look suspicious, and be unfair to the other employees, and anyway, things were different now. He didn't have the same resources he used to have before he broke away from SI, back when he threw hundred dollar bills around like they were loose change. And everybody was feeling the pinch these days. Which brought him back to Rogers. Maybe he could find another way of helping him out.

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wrote most of this before I started my MA:A series, but I am now realising there... might be some common themes. I guess you can tell what my kinks are, huh?
> 
> Anyway, I just made a brand new sideblog for Marvel stuff (it's gonna be 90% Tony stuff, let's be honest). Come hang out with me there if you like! http://shiningredandgold.tumblr.com/


End file.
